Torn Apart
by broadway2B
Summary: Fang kicks Max out of the flock because the chip in her is the only thing attracting flyboys. three years later, they're in the same area and Max is surrounded by flyboys. The flock saves her. Do they want her back? Better than it sounds. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

_I was sitting in the dark, in the middle of my second watch that night, when Fang came up to me and sat down. "I need to talk to you." He said. _

"_Spill." I told him_

"_I-we- think you need to leave. As in leave the flock." I stared at him, my jaw hanging._

"_You're kidding, right?"_

"_No." he mumbled, looking at his mangled shoes. "I'm serious."_

_He had _completely _taken me by surprise. I was at a loss for words. "So… you…we…they…I…"_

_He nodded. I stood up, brushing myself off. "Well then. Say goodbye to everyone for me. Give them my love. No. Scratch that. Give them my _hate._" And on that happy note, I jumped up, unfurled my wings, and took off into the black night, leaving everything I knew and loved, behind._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I forgot this on the last chapter! If I forget in further chapters, here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Ch. 2:**

**Max POV-**

Geez. I was _exhausted._ Fighting flyboys all day can do that to you. No. Scratch that. How about all _week? _No all _month? _No all _year? For the past _three_ years? _They just wouldn't stop coming. Without the flock (grimace) here, they seem to see me as less of a threat. Those traitors. That was probably what they had in mind all along. Without them, pretty soon I would be shred to pieces by flyboys. Then they would be rid of me.

Well they'd have to do a lot better than that to destroy the great Maximum Ride. I didn't need them to protect me. I'd lasted 3 years without them.

Suddenly, a soft whirring sound, far off broke the silence of the peaceful evening. Oh, man. Not again! I shifted into fighting position and stood at the mouth of the cave I was camped in so they couldn't corner me in the back.

I peered out at the bright sky. I couldn't see the flyboys yet so I guessed I had about thirty seconds. I decided to use my new power. Facing the cave wall, I stared hard and deep at it, as if willing my gaze to seep deep inside the thick rock. On cue, the rock cracked and several large chunks fell to the ground. I picked them up and resumed fighting mode, ready to throw my weapons at my attackers.

Rock wasn't the only material I could use my "super-stare" on. It worked on pretty much any object, just not anything living. The thing that really pissed me off was that it didn't work on flyboys. Why, you ask? Well apparently, the moronic white-coats decide to grow a brain, so they somehow put a protective outer layer on all the flyboys, protecting them from my death stare. It also hurt a heck of a lot more to punch, but hey! I'm Maximum Ride! I'm not admitting any weaknesses here.

The flyboys were now in my line of vision and approaching fast. There were about 10. Pshh. Easy. The robots landed to my right and said in a monotonous tone, "If you come with us, we will not hurt you."

"Haven't you creeps learned anything in the past three years? I don't come willingly." And then I spun a roundhouse kick at the one who spoke. It staggered and I took advantage of its moment of weakness, jabbing it at the base of its spine. One down, nine to go. I quickly took out six more and was about to start on the eighth, when the remaining two backed off. I stared at them, confused. If robots could smile, I swear they just did.

I looked up and groaned. Advancing quickly were about fifty more flyboys. There was no _way _I could take on all of them. So I used the one choice still available: I jumped off the cliff. Unfurling my wings, I prepared to rise when I saw all the flyboys pressing down from above. _Oh, crap. _I landed as quickly as I could without falling flat on my face and took off running through the trees.

There was a loud boom and I hoped that several flyboys collided on their landing. I kept running though, because I could hear the remaining ones close on my tail. Or, should I say wing? Anyway, they were close, and gaining. I pushed myself to go faster. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that it didn't do much good. I could see the light at the end of the trees and past that, a large meadow.

I heard a loud bang and a bullet whizzed past my right ear. Notgoodnotgoodnotgood. Another bullet went over my head. Then there was a searing pain in my left thigh and I cried out in pain. I stumbled, but picked myself up quickly and kept running, though it made my wound hurt a heck of a lot more.

I looked over my shoulder again and didn't have time to scream before a flyboy hit me in the face. Hard. I crumpled to the ground and was immediately pinned there by two other robots. I heard the sound of a car pulling up and groaned again. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out, was an angry yell and a streak of black racing towards the crowd. Then darkness engulfed me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks 13crazycheer13! I love the deal!**

**Disclaimer: geez. U people are crazy if u seriously think I own Maximum Ride. If u did, u could just look on the cover of the books! **_**James Patterson wrote the books. **_**Get the picture?**

**Ch. 3:**

**Angel POV:**

_Come on, come on! You can go faster Max._

I froze in the middle of the meadow. "Tag!" Gazzy yelled, slapping me. "You're it!" I ignored him. I hadn't heard that voice, or read that mind for three years. I hadn't seen or spoken to that face since she left. We still think of her all the time but we try not to. Three years ago, my favorite person in the whole world left. And here she was. _Max was back._

"Fang, Fang!" I called tugging on his shirt. He looked down, but I didn't need to tell him before everyone heard the loud whirring sound coming from the trees. Everyone looked at them and we heard a piercing scream. _Max's scream. _I saw recognition dawn on Fang's face; the others still looked clueless.

Fang looked at me and I nodded. He looked sad, then scared, then his leader mode kicked in as we could hear the flyboys getting closer.

"Everyone, hide behind this rock!" he yelled, gesturing toward, obviously, a very large rock. We dove behind it and peered out just as Max ran into the clearing with blood soaking her left thigh. At least forty flyboys were right behind her.

I felt Fang tense next to me. When I looked back at Max, she was pinned on the ground by two flyboys, the others looking, if robots could, gleeful. A black van sped into the meadow.

As several white-coats got out, Fang let loose and angry yell. We all saw the fire in his eyes as he sprang up and raced toward the group. _Wait a minute. _There actually _was _fire _shooting _from Fang's eyes! All I could do was stare as he began to tackle the white coats while the flyboys were clawing at him.

As Fang began to go down, we all ran to join him. I made the white coats thrust their heads through the windows as Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Fang took out the rest of the flyboys. When they were all on the ground, unmoving, we crowded around Max. She was unconscious and looked pale. That was when we noticed the blood. Way too much blood, still oozing out of her thigh. Fang tore off his jacket, and wrapped it around her. It slowed the bleeding but didn't stop it.

We stayed by her side and worried until Max moaned and opened her eyes. She looked up at us and smiled slightly, then gasped and tried to sit up. She didn't look at all calm anymore; just angry. Really angry.

"What are you doing here?" she growled. "Come to beg for me back after you dumped me out?"

The harshness of her words stung as they hit us. I gasped at the vicious and sad thoughts she was thinking.

"Well you're in for a surprise." She went on. "It was one choice and you blew it. If you want me back, too bad. We're done." My eyes stung with unshed tears. Max stumbled to her feet and staggered back. She stretched out her long wings and rose into the air. "So long, traitors." We heard before she disappeared into the clouds.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks oceanlover14, bloomsky, kashiena, and aiimee for the awesome reviews!!! This means you guys RULE!!!**

**K, so I know you all hate me now because I haven't updated in forever, but I can explain!**

……**.**

**Okay so I can't. But hopefully this chappie will make up for it! Enjoy!**

**BTW, something in the summary is wrong. I'll change it, it's just I changed my mind about something. You'll see in this chappie.**

**Disclaimer: yeah, by now you all know the sad truth that I don't own Maximum Ride. Then again, I guess in a way that's a good thing, because since I don't own the books, people aren't pressuring ME to come out with the fifth book-****Water Wings.**** (and yes, that is the name of the fifth book). But I mean, why wouldn't we pressure? WE WANT MORE!!! Right? K I should probably start the chappie now…..**

**Max POV:**

Was I amazingly mad at them? Yes. Was I wishing I had a flock to kick them out of so they'd know how it feels? Uh-huh. Was I so angry that I could send any of them back to the school? No-but almost.

Did I totally regret flying away right then? Yes.

Did I want to fly back there right now and beg them to take me back? Yes.

Was I going to do that? Heck no. They kicked me out. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction.

Then again, I could use a little help fighting all of the flyboys…but I still wasn't going to do it.

I saw the sun setting in front of me and decided to find a place to spend the night. There was a small cave on the mountain I was flying over, so I flew in. Exhausted from the day's events, I fell asleep on the cold hard rock without any trouble.

**Fang POV: **

I wanted her back so badly. It wasn't like I ever _wanted _her to go. If I hadn't seen that note, I never would've even thought about doing it.

_Flashback_

_I was on my watch and I turn around and there's this white square on the ground. I picked it up and realized it was a note._

_**Kick Max out**_

_**Or we'll**_

_**Take her out**_

_I_ _knew all too well what it meant._

_End Flashback_

I sighed and closed my eyes. I could feel every one of the flock's eyes on me, waiting for my decision. (well, except for Iggy's). I opened my eyes.

"Who misses Max." I asked. Everyone raised their hand gloomily.

"Who's up for a little chase?" (well, that was the best way I could put it. It was more of a 'follow Max without her knowing it and help her if she gets in trouble' kind of thing.) The kids looked interested.

Glancing at the dimming sky, I added, "Who's tired?" (Meaning, who can stay up and fly all night.) With a yawn, Gazzy began to raise his hand, but with a glare from everyone, cautiously lowered it.

"Okay guys. We're gonna find Max!" We rose into the air in unison and took off.

*****

An hour and a half and many wrong turns later, we still hadn't found Max. Everyone was dragging (Well I don't know if you can drag in the air, but everyone was tired.) I saw an abandoned cabin down below (Amazing! We actually get lucky for a change!)

"Guys, we're heading in!" Everyone looked relieved.

We had a small dinner of things we had brought (we keep our emergency backpacks with us at all times), and then Angel and Nudge fell asleep on the two beds and everyone else on the floor.

***

We awoke the next morning to the loudest scream I had ever heard. From close by.

I knew the scream and all of my fighting instincts kicked in. We ran out of the cabin and stared ahead.

Holy…

Okaay…

We backed inside the cabin before one of the…probably about _200_ flyboys saw us.

I knew what they were there for.

_Max._

She was in trouble, and we couldn't help her.

**Max POV:**

Oh. My. Gosh.

I woke up because sunlight streaming into the cave was hitting my eyes directly. I opened my eyes and really wished I hadn't.

Probably at least 150 flyboys were at the mouth of the cave, blocking any chance I might escape, and there were even more behind them.

I stood up slowly and began backing up. A flyboy was at my side instantly. I gasped, and then aimed a punch, followed by a roundhouse kick. One of the screws on the robot's head came off and it teetered dangerously. I pushed it lightly and the lifelike head toppled off.

One flyboy down, 199 to go. What was I thinking? I didn't even have the slightest chance of taking out all of these. My best chance was to work my way through the clump and try to get away.

I started for the first robot and kicked it backwards. The effect was like dominoes, but I didn't have time to laugh before a flyboy grabbed me and roughly pinned my hands behind my back. One of the ones on the ground held my feet together before I could react. I was completely helpless.

Then, I did something completely un-Max-like. I screamed as loud as I could (which is pretty loud) hoping someone or something would help me. As you probably guessed, nothing did.

Instead, a flyboy took some cords from a helicopter (wow, I didn't even notice that) and bound my wrists and ankles. Then it put the dreaded sack over my head making me pass out instantly.

Well this was great.

**Don't worry! I'm not leaving you with this cliffy for more than a week! I've already started the next chapter.**

**Reviews are welcome (hint, hint) and if anyone has a spur-of- the -moment –genius idea, PLEASE TELL ME!!! (I mean, I know pretty much what's going to happen, but if you guys have awesome or funny little parts or lines or amazing things to happen…pretty much anything, please let me know in a review or personal message! **

**Hope you liked the chappie!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own Maximum Ride. Don't rub it in. ******

**Ch. 5-**

**Fang POV:**

I watched the whole scene from a window in the cabin. I wanted to run out and help Max, but we wouldn't be any help to her if we were caught too.

I watched the helicopter containing Max fly into the sky and disappear behind the mountain. The rest of the flyboys followed it.

Once they were out of sight, I burst through the front door and jumped into the air. The rest of the flock was right behind me.

We soon caught up with the helicopter and flyboys, but kept a safe distance.

It took a day to get to-you guessed it- the school.

We watched the helicopter land and the flyboys step out carrying an unconscious Max. I clenched my jaw as the entire group entered the building.

"Let's go in." I whispered. We cautiously landed and sneaked up to the door we saw everyone go through. I tried it and it was locked (well waddya know!). We snuck around the building and found another door that looked less sturdy. It was locked, but with the help of Iggy and Nudge, I crashed it down as quietly as I could (well you can't really crash a door quietly, but I tried).

We held our breath, waiting for a white-coat to come running. Amazingly, none did.

Second time in two days we got lucky. It's a record!

We tiptoed inside and peered around the corner. I recognized some of the hallways and rooms to the left, meaning that was where our room used to be, and where Max was.

This place brought back some really bad members. I noticed the rest of the flock kind of huddled behind me and Iggy and I felt a TON of pressure. If I lost it, they would definitely lose it.

I took a deep breath and we made another left. Then a right.

Why hadn't we been caught yet? I mean, there were like no guards or anything. It was kind of creepy because I kept expecting something to jump out at me, but it never did.

We made another right and stopped dead in our tracks. This was why there was no security.

There was a steel door in front of us with at least ten locks, a fingerprint sensor and a password.

I could only bet that's where they were keeping Max.

**Max POV:**

When I woke up, I didn't know where I was for a second. But then it all came flooding back- the cave, the flyboys, the helicopter.

I began to sit up in my cage, only to flop back down. Geez, _everything _hurt.

Lying on my back, I surveyed my surroundings. This room had changed a lot since the last time I was here. My cage was bigger (bonus) but there were a ton of confusing locks on it, meaning I couldn't just break out. The whole room looked neater, newer, and stronger. The door…well, the door was passing the limit. The door was steel and had a keyboard for a password, several strong locks, and a ton of other gadgets. Beside the door there was a small window (amazing! They actually provide me with some sight of what they're doing _outside_ my cell. Looking through, I realized it showed _another_ door-identical to the first, but with a fingerprint detector. Geez. They kind of outdid themselves.

It was like I was inside one of those complex safes that are impossible to get into.

Suddenly, the second door opened and a white coat holding a slip of paper and looking confused began unlocking the door to the room I was in.

When he finally came in, he looked surprised and excited to see me. He shoved the tray of food he was carrying (wow they actually remembered to feed me) and ran from the room yelling "It's awake! It's awake!"

No need to get excited.

I cautiously picked at the food, only eating the stuff that looked semi-edible, which was not much.

Pretty soon, several white coats hurried into the room and stood by my cage. They mumbled things to each other like, "With all the new improvements, it won't be able to escape," and, "We'll make the best of it while we have it, which will probably be longer than last time due to the adjustments."

They opened my cage and I scooted to the back, putting on my angriest face.

One of the white coats peered in and said, "It looks kind of angry. Are you sure it's a good idea to test it right now?" _Nope. It's probably _not_ a good idea. You don't want to mess with an angry Max._

"Oh, just get it out. We've been waiting for this opportunity for so long." A white coat reached in, grabbed me and pulled me out of the cage.

Each white coat held onto some part of me as they walked me out of the room, through all the doors and to an experiment room.

They shoved me in and locked the door once they were all inside. To my disgust, inside the room was one of the people I hate most.

Jeb.

"I'm sorry to have to do this Max," he said, walking towards me. "But it's all a test." Sometimes I seriously wondered if he was just a nutcase fortune teller who just happened to get a job as a crazy scientist.

Jeb grabbed my arms from the white coats and strapped me down to a table. I didn't struggle, knowing there was nothing I could do about it.

"Okay, this will only hurt for a minute," he said, typing something on his computer. Then he whispered to a white coat, "We need to make sure that if she _does_ get out of her…um room, that we can stop her from escaping. We're going to disable her wings-only temporarily, don't worry."

Okay now I struggled. I bucked and turned and twisted and tried to produce a sound from my raw throat, and clawed and kicked and pretty much went wild.

Well that didn't do any good. All it did was tire me out, making the following zap even more of a surprise. After the shock, a dull ache began to spread through my back and wings, getting stronger and stronger. Eventually, I felt like my wings were aflame and my back was broken in several places, so I cried out.

"Okay, I think that's enough to hold her." I heard Jeb's voice. The pain slowly began to subside and I was unstrapped from the table. Too weak to struggle, I let them drag me back into my room.

Before the door closed, I thought I saw, call me crazy but, black feathers disappearing around the corner.

Then I fell into unconsciousness.

**The next chapter will come sooner if you review!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so I know I haven't updated in WAY TOO LONG, and you all probably want to come and stab me with sporks.**

**But there's nothing any of us can do about it now, so let's just forgive and forget.**

**Right?**

**Yeah, I didn't think so…ANYWAY, here's chapter six.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Isn't it obvious by now? I mean, do any of you actually think I do? Cuz no offense, but you would have to be pretty thick…**

**Ch. 6:**

**Fang POV:**

We didn't even try breaking into Max's cell, knowing that it was no use. Even if we _did_ manage to get in through Nudge's super convenient hacking ability, alarms would obviously blare if any of the fingerprints or passwords didn't match.

But we did look in a small window on the side of the first door to confirm our fears. We saw an unconscious Max lying on the bottom of a cage.

This sight made me so angry, I was almost ready to attempt breaking in, but at that moment, we heard footsteps, and quickly turned a corner and hid in a janitor's closet. Even evil science labs need to stay clean.

We were cramped, but I gestured to the others to keep quiet. Which they probably would've anyway, given the seriousness of the situation.

Through a crack, I saw a white coat slowly go through the security process and enter the room. The next minute, it was running back out, screaming hysterically.

About four more white coats came running and all of them entered the cell, looking excited.

Then they were coming back _out_, dragging an angry looking Max. I couldn't blame her. Who would be happy in a place like this?

The small group turned a corner, and I had a sudden urge to follow them.

I gestured to the others to stay put, and, although reluctantly, they nodded.

I slowly creaked open the door and crept around the corner. I was met by two hallways going separate directions. I was torn, but quickly decided on the forward one as I heard a scream.

I picked up my pace and came to a door. I cautiously peered in the window and saw Max bucking and twisting on a metal table in the center of the room. To her right, to my great astonishment, was Jeb.

_But this wasn't possible! Jeb was dead…or so we thought…_

He said something to a white coat, who did some fancy stuff with a computer and pushed a lot of random buttons.

Slowly, Max stopped struggling. She just lay on the table, with her eyes closed, breathing heavily.

The white coats unstrapped her and began walking towards the door, dragging Max behind them.

With only seconds to spare, I disappeared behind the corner, fuming with anger.

Max was _not_ going to have to endure much more of this.

We would make sure of that.

**Max POV:**

I woke up to voices outside my cage. I groggily opened my eyes to slits and saw several white coats staring down at me.

I caught phrases such as, _should see what it can fight like without the use of its wings_, and, _scheduled for the training area four o'clock today. Taking on four erasers. Won't have to worry about it escaping._

The events of the previous day flooded back to me. Hoping it was just a dream, I tried slowly to extend my wings just the slightest bit.

As a result, where my wings should be felt like it was burning, and my back ached like twelve tons of bricks had just been dropped on it.

I gasped and sat up, arching my back and clenching my fist, screwing up my face in pain.

The white coats looked surprised to see me awake.

Then one of them smiled. "Looks like it tried to let out its wings." Then to me, he said slowly, as if I couldn't understand him, "Yeah, you will be in for a nasty surprise if you try to fly with them. I suggest you don't try to open them anymore."

I smiled sarcastically and snarled, just as slowly, "Yes, and you'll be in for a nasty surprise when you go home to find your wife has packed up and left. She hates how you experiment on poor, innocent, children you know."

The white coat looked panicked and hurried from the room. I couldn't believe he actually fell for that. I have no idea where his wife is, if anyone would even marry an idiot like him, and didn't know if she liked his job or not. Nor did I care.

The others looked confused but quickly shrugged it off.

I noticed a tray on the bottom of my cage with a half rotten apple on it. The other half looked edible, though, so I picked it up and carefully chewed the good parts.

While I did, the white coats left the room, talking rapidly like old college buddies.

I shot a dirty look to their backs, wanting desperately to chuck the half-eaten apple at them.

I waited nervously until four o'clock, when a white coat came to grab me. I didn't struggle, knowing it would happen one way or another.

I was led outside onto the field where I was met by four big, mean looking erasers, and ten white coats who were, shall we say, "evaluating" my performance.

I got into fighting position, as did my opponents. I recognized Ari among them and gave him an extra snarl.

"Hey Ari, your dad finally find something useful for you to do?" I taunted him.

Ari growled and lunged at me. I side stepped him easily and kicked him in the stomach, but the others were upon me, then. As I took on two, the other gave me a good punch to the back of my head, which made me see stars and lean over, my eyes watering.

Ari took the chance to punch me in the gut. Hard enough to make me sink to my knees.

He laughed, but it didn't last long. I grabbed the back of his knees and pulled hard. He collapsed and I punched him in the face. He fell backwards, clutching his bloody nose.

While I was focusing my attention on Ari, another eraser jabbed me in the back, right in between the wings, where it really hurts. I would've been able to take it, but my back and wings were still sore and tender from the last test and the jab really went over the top in the amount of pain I could endure. My back had had a dull ache and burn since the previous day, and the new blow just doubled the pain.

I cried out and collapsed completely, where Ari pinned me with a boot on my back. I was too weak to struggle.

Just then, five figures ran out of the building. I groaned. Why couldn't they just have stayed put? Now they would get caught.

But why should I care? I reminded myself.

The flock joined in the fight and quickly took out the erasers. They leaped into the sky and Fang grabbed me. He rose about ten feet, but couldn't go any higher with the additional weight.

"Max, fly!" he yelled.

I looked at him sadly. I knew not to even try to extend my wings again. "I can't," I said in a small voice.

Recognition dawned on Fang's face as he glanced at my back and saw (I'm guessing) my wing tips just protruding from my back and hanging there limply.

He looked up at the rest of the flock, who were becoming smaller and smaller, and then back at me.

Then he looked panicked as he stared over my shoulder. I turned my head and saw several white coats pulling out guns. Whether they held bullets, or were just tranquilizers, we couldn't find out.

"Just go," I said to Fang, not looking at him. The day before, I almost wouldn't have cared if he or the rest of them got captured (almost), but now I was telling them to leave.

Fang looked torn for a moment, but as the white coats raised their guns, he looked apologetically at me, and dropped me.

I landed on the ground ten feet below and dust rose up behind me. I saw the flock take one last look and rise up and away into the distance.

I was too weak to do anything but let the white coats grab me and drag me back inside.

I saw Ari grin a yellow-toothed smile as I blacked out.

**If you review, I might write another chapter tomorrow!!! Meaning you should review…Please?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh my gosh guys, I know you all hate me. I'm so sorry, I haven't updated in like, **_**NINE MONTHS!!!**_** I have a couple excuses, but none are good enough! I'm so sorry! **

**Anyways, here's the next chapter and I promise it gets happier!**

**Disclaimer: **_**sigh**_** I don't own Maximum Ride. Not a single page. Not a single word. JP is that lucky person.**

**Ch. 7**

**Max POV-**

I woke up in my cage, sore everywhere and definitely not in the best of moods. I sat, contemplating the events of the day before.

The trai…._flock_ had actually come. They had tried to rescue me. Maybe they actually cared. Maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe they had a _reason_ to kick me out. Maybe I was on the road to forgiving them.

Maybe.

Of course, that was if I ever saw them again. Things might actually be able to go back to the way they were. However much I hated to admit it, I missed all of them with every part of me.

I missed Angel, my baby, and how she always managed to tough it out. I missed helping her get dressed in the mornings, putting her to bed, comforting her when she cried or was hurt. I even missed how creepy she could sometimes be.

I missed Gazzy and Iggy, and their mischievous selves. I'll admit, if they made bombs out of objects that weren't my personal belongings, I'd be a whole lot happier. But they always managed to have a weapon ready that certainly saved our butts. I missed Gazzy, his angelic smile and adorable eight-year-old sense of humor. I missed Iggy and his incredible cooking skills. I missed them both.

Nudge, my little motor mouth. Of course it'd be nice if she could learn to occasionally shut up, but I missed her all the same. She was such a little trouper and improved my days.

And then there was Fang. Mr. No Emotion. Strong and silent. My right-hand man. But I thought I had seen something flicker in his eyes yesterday as he grudgingly dropped me and flew off. Longing, despair. He didn't want to let me go. He wished he could help me, wished there was a way to rescue me. That look told me that he would come back. He would keep trying. I knew it with all of me.

Just then I heard a thump and a curse from outside the door. The white-coats were having trouble getting in again. Geez. They create the locks and can't open them? Smart. But the door eventually swung open and six red faced white coats gathered themselves together and marched in.

I braced myself. I knew I had to do something. I was going to get out of here. I had something to fight for. I had hope. The white coats stopped in front of my cage and unlatched it. The door swung open and the leaned in.

For a moment, I was still. I put on my best mask of fear and tried to portray the message that I was terrified and didn't want to go. Then I launched myself at them with a roar.

"Wha-!" They certainly weren't expecting that. I took on two at once and they were on the ground in a matter of seconds. I delivered a punch to one's head, a kick to the other's stomach. While they tried to regain their breath…and consciousness…I focused on the remaining psychos.

The next two were slightly more prepared, but weren't any more of a challenge. I swung a roundhouse kick and heard some ribs crack on the first one. The other was knocked to the floor with a hard backhand that knocked several teeth loose.

When I turned around to face the last two, I found the room empty. Where had they gone? Suddenly, I heard a blaring alarm.

_Shoot_. I tore from the room as quickly as I could and raced through the hallways. I heard yelling and felt pursuers—white-coats and erasers—attempting to keep up. They weren't doing a great job. I laughed and poured on the speed. I took a left, a right, another quick left…

And ran into five familiar figures.

"Max!" yelled Angel. I didn't have any time to answer. I just gathered them all and herded them into an empty room, gasping. I held a finger to my lips.

When the yells and footsteps passed, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Then I turned to face the flock. They stared at me. I stared back.

Then I hurdled myself towards them. Fang was first. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if expecting me to hit him.

"Gah!" He gasped, surprised at the hug that followed instead. He hugged me back awkwardly. In case you didn't know, Fang is not a very huggy person.

After Fang was Iggy, then Nudge, then Gazzy, then Angel—whom I swung in a circle.

I heard Angel's voice in my head. _MAX I missed you soooo much! Oh and Fang didn't want to throw you out. But the white-coats left a note during his watch that said they'd kill you if he didn't. He missed you a lot._

I threw her an odd look, but didn't have time to say anything as I faintly heard the growling and yelling come back up the hall. I devised a plan.

"Okay guys. I can't fly—they disabled my wings temporarily. But I remember the room they took me to. I'm betting there's a reverse medication somewhere there. I'm going to go find it. Alone." There was an outbreak of protests at that.

"LISTEN! They only want me. If you hear me scream, then come. But otherwise, _you are staying here_." None of the flock looked happy.

"See you soon," I said with a reassuring smile, and slipped out the door.

The hallways were blinking with red lights, the alarm still blaring. I didn't see anyone, but you never knew when someone was hiding in the shadows, about to jump out at you. And I heard a search party somewhere nearby.

I hurried up the hallway—the way I had come—and heard a shout from behind. They had found me. I raced through the maze that was the School and eventually came to a familiar hallway. This was where they had disabled my wings. And at the end of the hall was my extra-high-security room.

I quickly chose a door and entered. There were a couple white coats discussing something. They looked up, surprised, when I came in.

"There it is!" "Get it!" They yelled, scrambling towards me. They didn't stand a chance. With a couple good punches they were on the floor in dreamland.

I knew this was the right room because I recognized the table in the center, as well as the equipment. I turned to some drawers in a cabinet, hurriedly rifling through them for anything that might be a reverse medication. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for. A red label that said "REVERSE MEDICATION"? A syringe all ready to go that said "TO REENABLE WINGS"? Oh well.

The door creaked open.

I swung around. _Ari_.

"Hey dog breath. Ready for a nap?" I said, swinging a roundhouse kick at his head. But he grabbed my leg and flipped me over so I landed on my back.

I pulled his legs out from under him and hurriedly got to my feet. I put my knee into his chest.

"I wonder if Daddy will even miss you." I snarled with as much menace as possible.

That set him off. I reached for his throat, but he gave a huge roar and threw me off of him. I got up, slightly winded, and he came at me. I ducked under his punch, but he managed to kick me in the side. I heard a couple ribs crack.

I turned around and landed a hard kick to his chest. He flew back but jumped right back up. It was as if he couldn't feel pain.

I punched him in the nose. With a bloody face, he retaliated by punching me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain and he grabbed my hair and pulled my face up. Looking into his eyes, I saw only hate and anger. He was out for the kill.

When I saw that, I knew I needed backup. So I let loose a bloodcurdling scream. Please let them hear.

Ari reached for my throat and pinned me against a wall.

"You think you're so great." He growled. "Well we'll see who's great when you're crumpled on the floor. _Dead_."

My air supply was constricting. _Any time now._

I couldn't get a breath anywhere. There was no room to breathe. My lungs were about to burst. _Now would be about great, Fang._

I tried to kick any part of Ari's body I could reach. He just laughed. _Angel? Help! Ange? Ang…_

Black seemed to be rimming my vision. I could only hold my breath for so long. I had only seconds left. Maybe a minute. My vision was hazy and my brain seemed fuzzy.

Darkness was enclosing me. _Goodbye_, I thought, before I—

Lay on the floor, gasping great, big, lungfuls of air.

_Wha—?_ I thought. _How—?_ I looked up.

The flock was there being held by five erasers. _Dang it_. I thought.

But…where was Nudge?

**Fang POV-**

"We're not going to stay here, are we Fang?" asked Angel.

"No." I replied simply. "We're not."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** **Alright, I'm here to tell you no, I haven't died. No, I am not abandoning this story (although I did consider it). And I'm reallllllllllly sorry for not uploading in, what, a year? ****I've had a lot going on, but I know that's not an excuse. Anyways, I hope I am forgiven and I WILL finish this story (as well as my other story, **_**M is for Madness**_**).**

**Yeah…so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Maximum Ride.

**Previously:**

_Wha—?__ I thought. __How—?__ I looked up._

_The flock was there being held by five erasers. __Dang it__. I thought._

_But…where was Nudge?_

**Fang POV:**

_Crap. _I thought as I struggled to free myself from the eraser's vise-like grip. He just chuckled and twisted my arm, making me hiss. I looked around and saw Max on the floor, gasping and coughing. _We had almost been too late_.

Alright, let me back up a bit.

As soon as Max left, I had turned to the flock and we devised a plan.

"We're going to have to split up. Me, Gazzy, and Angel are gonna go help Max. Iggy and Nudge—you guys try to find Jeb or the Director. If we can take one of them hostage, I'm sure we could make a small trade. Everyone got it?"

I got serious nods from the flock. I put my hand out in a fist, like Max always did before we went to sleep. But now seemed like a pretty good time for a sort of handshake.

The kids stacked their fists and I tapped them. Then we threw the door open and split up.

I threw a look over my shoulder and locked eyes with Nudge. She gave me a small smile, and then she and Iggy turned out of sight.

Before I even had time to think about which way we should go, a scream sounded from the end of the hallway. Max was in trouble.

"Come on!" I gestured to Angel and Gazzy and we took off. But right as we rounded the corner, we came face to face with eight erasers. I didn't have time to yell before we had all been grabbed, our arms secured behind our backs.

They began to drag us to the end of the hall, where we entered a room.

"Max!" Angel yelled. Sure enough, Max was pinned to the wall by none other than an enraged Ari.

I snarled as another eraser swiftly pulled Ari off of Max and began heatedly whispering to him. I caught phrases such as "what were you thinking?" and "need her alive".

A split second later, two other erasers entered the room dragging Iggy who sported a black eye.

I looked questioningly at him. "They were waiting" was all he said. I noticed, however, that Nudge was conveniently absent from this little gathering.

We were all positioned in a misshaped circle.

Iggy had a look of defiance on his face as he stomped on his captor's toes. Gazzy had a mischievous look on his face—the eraser's face changed into a mask of disgust and he turned his head away. I almost smiled.

Almost.

Then I looked at Angel. _Angel, can you "ask" them to let us go?_

_I've been trying! I think they must have a mind block up or something. I can't even read their thoughts!_ She replied.

I mentally cursed. How were we going to get out of this? It looked as though Max was beginning to recover, but as she shakily tried to get to her feat, Ari pinned her arms behind her back with one arm, while the other wrapped around her torso, pinning her back to him.

He grinned and whispered in her ear. "Just wait till next time. The timing won't be so perfect, and then…" He trailed off.

Max yawned. "You know what, if your filthy arm wasn't wrapped around me, I'd be shaking." She said sarcastically. Ari punched her in the side and I saw her grimace.

The door clicked open. The sound of expensive leather shoes hitting linoleum floors echoed around the room as Jeb walked into the room, flanked by three or four white-coats.

He walked up to Max and held out a small jar of gel that appeared to be glowing.

"Looking for something?" He murmured. Max snarled at him and he slipped the reverse medication into his coat pocket. He didn't acknowledge Ari, and I saw a flash of anger in the eraser's eyes.

Then he turned to me. My face was emotionless, but I felt like yelling every curse word I knew at him. But would that help our situation at all? No. See? I can be logical.

"Fang, I'd say I'm sorry that you'll be dead in the next hour or so, but I'm not."

I didn't say anything. Was it just me, or did this whole situation seem really cliché?

Jeb sighed, then looked at the eraser holding me.

"Take these five—" (he gestured to me, Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel) "Wait, you're missing one! What happened to her?"

The erasers looked around, confused, and the ones with free hands literally scratched their heads. It was really quite comical.

"There was another one?" Was the genius reply one managed to utter.

Jeb was fuming. He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose, as if he couldn't believe he had to deal with the unbelievably slow erasers. I didn't blame him—well, I actually did. I mean, he created them! But…you know what I meant.

Jeb opened his mouth to speak again, and, as if on cue, the intercom blared to life. Anyone else feel like it's a school environment? Not that I'd know, of course. And the school's football team would have to be really, _really_ hairy…

There was some static and then a muffled argument.

"Just say it!"

"I won't—OW!"

"I've got more eyeliner where that came from. Now say it!"

I couldn't mistake Nudge's voice and my mouth turned up at the corners.

"Please take your coffee break," an old lady's voice grumbled. "There has been a change of plans. Please meet in the main hall for manicures and pedicures."

There was a beat of dead silence.

"THAT WAS THE DIRECTOR, AND THAT WAS AN ORDER! NOW GET TO THE MAIN HALL!" thundered Nudge's voice.

The erasers (save Ari), looking thoroughly confused but frightened, released us and scurried for the door.

"Wait—where—stop!" Jeb tried to stop the erasers, but to no avail. He turned around, and bit his lip.

Angel and I slowly walked towards Jeb, while Iggy and Gazzy did the same to Ari (who quickly dropped Max). And might I say we looked pretty scary.

Jeb squeaked and turned for the door. Only to be met by none other than Nudge.

"Where's the director?" I asked her.

"Tied to a chair with hair ribbons." She replied matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes. Where does she get this stuff? No…I mean it. Where did she get enough hair ribbon to tie a woman to a chair? When you're on a rescue mission, you pack the essentials. And that's it.

By now, Max had stood up and was unlatching a window on the other side of the room.

"No, Max you can't go! Don't you get it? This is your destiny! We're trying to help you!" Jeb cried frantically.

"Please." She scoffed. "Are 'kidnap' and 'torture' new synonyms for 'help'? But you're right—I can't go quite yet. I'm forgetting something." She stalked towards him. Jeb closed his eyes and shrunk away from her as she leaned in…and plucked the jar of gel from his pocket.

"Now, if you value your lives, you'll both get out of here." They didn't move. "NOW!"

Jeb ran from the room (wimp). Ari lunged at Max, but when the six of us stepped menacingly forward, he thought better of it. Good choice. Ari huffed, threw one last murderous glance at Max, and followed Jeb out the door.

Now it was just the flock.

"OMG! Is everybody okay? We have to hurry—those hair ribbons won't last forever!"

"Does this mean we're a flock again?"

"Dude, did you see his face?"

"He squeaked! I mean it!"

Max and I didn't say anything. Just smiled.

"Oh yeah, I need somebody to rub this stuff over my wings. Fang?" Max said, lifting up the back of her shirt.

I took the jar from her and spread a bit of gel over her back. When my hand touched her back, I swear both of us jumped slightly.

"Thanks," she said, slowly unfolding her beautiful wings.

Then she held out her fist, and as we performed the ritual stack, I felt, for the first time in ages, as if we were actually a flock again. I met Max's eyes and she smiled.

Then she turned and jumped out the window, the rest of us following. As the awful building called the School turned to a speck in the distance, and we could no longer hear the alarms, the sun set in front of us, and the six of us spun and laughed in the air.

My hand found Max's and I held it as we flew.

**Okay, okay, I know. That was really corny. But I needed to end it—I feel awful about how long it took me to update, and I don't want to make you guys wait so long again. So unless anyone's really dissatisfied with the ending, this story is complete.**

**Thanks for reading! **


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